Together We Stand

[ 32 ] as a platform for social change. One of its programmes, the Muse International Arts Educational Center, identifies artistic potential in refugees, internally displaced persons and disad- vantaged teenagers from across Uganda who would otherwise never have the opportunity to receive an education. While professionalism is vital, the value of well-prepared and empowered citizens has often been underestimated. Statutory authorities, such as the various emergency services, bring capacities that only a well-established and experienced force is capable of, but this sometimes leads the rest of the population to become complacent. The bigger the disaster, the less the official organs of the state can cope alone; the ordinary citizen becomes the hero. For the regular person to deliver the greatest value in time of crisis, he or she needs the requisite skills and to be plugged into a system that allows for an effective response. Volunteers are trained and retrained, regularly using and rehearsing their skills and working within structures that prove themselves when trouble begins. Resilience strategies are closely associated with the ability to create a continuum of care in the psychotrauma field, incor- porating preparedness architecture and effective response procedures. Israeli universities — such as Ben Gurion, Tel Aviv 6 and Tel Hai 7 — specialize in applying the principles and practice of social work to the disciplines of trauma and crisis. Social workers and allied care professionals are equipped with the requisite skills for crisis situations from individual accidents to major incidents. Personnel are trained to provide immediate mental health intervention at the site of disaster or emergency situations, which reduces the risk of post-traumatic symptoms and aids victims’ speedy return to their regular level of daily functioning. Nearly 50 years after Israeli humanitarian Abie Nathan rented a DC8 plane to fly humanitarian aid to Biafra’s starv- ing children, Natan 8 — the Israeli coalition for international humanitarian aid that bears his name — deploys profession- als in the field to intervene in crisis situations in Israel and around the world, as this recent report 9 attests: “It’s midnight and the temperature is close to zero in Presevo, a small town on the border between Serbia and Macedonia. A thousand people are standing in the snow, waiting patiently and silently to go through a security check. Many of them are holding small children in their arms, trying desperately to keep them warm. Others are supporting older relatives who can hardly stay awake, as the line slowly moves forward. Some are pushing a family member in a wheelchair... The most interesting group for me to follow, however, was the Israelis: three doctors, a nurse, and two social workers, who flew to the transit camp for a three-week period, doing so on a completely voluntary basis. They took time off from their work places, left their families back in Israel, and came to a place literally ‘in the middle of nowhere’ to help and assist people who are citizens of a country with which Israel is still technically at war. “So far, Natan has sent 34 doctors, nurses and social workers from Israel to help the Syrian refugees. Roughly half of these staff members were Israeli-Arabs. Most clinics have an entirely non-Arabic speaking staff, with a single translator to make up for the language difficulties. Since the vast majority of the refugees speak only Arabic, the presence of Arabic-speaking professional staff at the Israeli clinic makes a huge difference.” When disasters occur, the world mobilizes to offer a compassionate response. Often, rushed aid is delivered and thoughtful planning is brushed aside. Thankfully, this Israeli expertise is applied in post-conflict situations, such as helping the victims of war, tsunami and flooding in Sri Lanka Image: Tag International Development T ogether W e S tand